Billups also was clear about one area in which Saunders needs to improve, especially with so many young players looking to him for guidance. He said Saunders could be, "a little more disciplined, little more hard on us."

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The bottom line is that the players see Saunders growing. He has been more stern and forceful this season. He yells more. He cusses.
All of those things seem foreign to his character, but with the fresh blood in camp, Saunders said he is simply harkening back to his CBA days.
"I had players who were more receptive to coaching and also needed it," Saunders said of that long-ago time. "You prepare yourself more when you go in with that."

The Pistons have won 27 road games in each of Saunders' two seasons in Detroit.
The challenge of winning will be even greater this year if Detroit follows through with playing more young players.
"It's going to be tough for the young guys who ain't used to playing," Pistons forward Antonio McDyess said. "Guys coming off the bench ... guys just have to be ready."
The same goes for the veterans who will finally start to play their regular minutes after seeing limited action during the preseason.
"In the preseason, they knew they were playing anywhere from 12 to 20 minutes," Saunders said. "Now they know they'll be playing in the 30s."
But if they struggle early, Saunders will look to the bench quicker than he has in the past.
"They know that now if they don't do it, there's an opportunity that someone else might be in their spot, and play more," Saunders said.

All the talk prior to last season was that Flip was more forceful and direct with the team after being afraid to change things his first year because they were so successful prior to his arrival. We know how that turned out. Seems like more pre-season drivel.

Except for the 1 shot he hit, it was pretty sorry. He got blocked rather badly and picked up quick fouls. The first was when he bit on an unconvincing pump fake. Only 1 rebound.

I really think that he will play better than this 9 times out of 10. His best attribute was probably that he didn't make any passing mistakes.

Dyess was pretty sorry too.

But hey, I love that Alf got the start. Play him off the bench, and give him a start every 10 games or so to boost his confidence.

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It appears to me that the comments below sum up AA's play in his first NBA game fairly accurately.

"I wasn't overly excited or anything, but I've got to learn how to be patient in this league and take my time," said Afflalo, who scored three points.
Coach Flip Saunders started Afflalo instead of Flip Murray to keep some scoring and veteran play coming off the bench. Lindsey Hunter, another option, is recovering from a flu-like sickness.
"It was definitely a tough situation ... opening night," forward Tayshaun Prince said. "But he was aggressive early, that's why he got in foul trouble. Aggressive, that's what we want from him. ... But he knows this is the NBA now."
Saunders thought pairing Afflalo with four veterans would ease the rookie's nerves. Afflalo said before the game it wouldn't change his focus.
"My focus is always the same, regardless of starting or coming off the bench," Afflalo said. "Just want to get out there, compete, play hard and win. Whatever it takes to help the team."

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He adjusted fairly well in the 2nd half. He played 9 minutes without any fouls, one three point goal and had none of his shots blocked. It appeared that he also did a better job defensively in the second half.

Saunders defended his decision Thursday in Miami to finish the game with Jason Maxiell on the floor and starter Antonio McDyess on the bench.
"Maxey was playing well and with great energy," Saunders said. "I told our guys that there's going to be times when the young players finish games. That's part of the maturation process of this team. Different people are going to get that opportunity to build confidence so we can play them more and rest our main guys."

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I like the way it sounds, as long as he can stick to it throughout the season.

It seems to me that the best combinations in any one game depend on a lot of variables including.

1. Foul trouble
2. Physical condition of the players
3. Matchups especially on defense.
4. Whose hot and whose not
5. Defensive scheme being played (Players do better in certain defensive schemes than in other schemes)
6. The score
7. The minutes played by players up until that point in the game.

So a player that may be a good choice to be among the closing 5 one night might not be the best choice to close out the game on another night.

On most teams this doesn't vary too much from game to game unless there are injured players because most teams aren't deep enough to vary the closing five that much night to night and coaches usually want their best five active players out there at the end of a game. However, if you are deep and have flexibility with your players, the closing five can vary game to game depending on how the variables are playing out for that game.

But Flip struggled with his adjustments before. His only adjustment before was to put his starters in when in doubt. That's what I am concerned with - him reverting to the old habits. I am just hoping he trusts the bench guys more this time around and doesn't hesitate to put them in when the situation calls for it.